圓悟佛果禪師語錄 9.9

9.9

示眾云：「大凡學道，須是用作事始得，莫只等閑，但二六時中如欠却人家二三百萬貫債負，憂怕還他不徹。如此存誠，不憂不到。是故古者道：『大事未辦，如喪考妣。』又有一喻，學道之士如鷄抱卵，須是暖氣相接方可生成，若中間間隔，暖氣不接，便抱十年終不得生。龍牙亦云：『學道如鑽火，逢煙未可休，直待金星現，燒燃始到頭。』況此大事，三世諸佛為之出世，自己透脫生死，豈可因循如存若亡。却請努力向前，以悟為則，各希取信。珍重。」

He instructed the assembly, saying: "Generally, in studying the Way, one must apply oneself to the work before one can attain it; do not merely take it lightly. In the twelve periods of the day, be as if you owe someone a debt of two or three million strings of cash, fearing that you will not be able to pay it back. Maintaining sincerity like this, do not worry that you will not arrive. Therefore the ancients said: 'When the great matter is not yet settled, it is like mourning one's parents.' There is another metaphor: a student of the Way is like a hen brooding on an egg; the warmth must be continuous before it can generate life. If there is an interruption in between and the warmth is not continuous, even if she broods for ten years, in the end life will not be produced. Longya also said: 'Studying the Way is like drilling for fire; when you meet smoke, you must not stop. Only when the golden sparks appear and it blazes up have you reached the end.' How much more so with this great matter, for which the Buddhas of the three periods of time appeared in the world, and by which one penetrates and sheds birth and death oneself—how could one procrastinate, as if it were present and yet not? Please exert your efforts and advance, taking awakening as the criterion, and may each of you have faith. Take care."